Researchers are currently able to prepare drugs trapped inside nanoparticles the size of viruses, but now a new study has demonstrated another major challenge in the field of nanomedicine - the immune system - and the importance of the polymers that coat the surface of the nanoparticle
Researchers are currently able to prepare drugs trapped inside nanoparticles the size of viruses, but now a new study has demonstrated another major challenge in the field of nanomedicine - the immune system - and the importance of the polymers coating the surface of the nanoparticle.
Researchers have been able to prove over a long period of time that drugs produced on a nanometer scale provide unprecedented opportunities for targeted treatments of serious diseases such as cancer. At the same time, new research now shows that the body's immune system also plays an important role in the process of transferring the drugs.
"Researchers are currently able to confine medical substances inside nanoparticles the size of viruses. The nanoparticles are useful for drug delivery - the release of the drug inside the body - since they can reach the infected cells with great precision and deliver the drug only to them. As a result, it is possible to settle for a lower dose of the drug and thanks to this cause a reduction in side effects," explains Professor Moein Moghimi from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.
The new research showed that the coating layer on the surface of the nanoparticle has a great effect on the activation of the immune system - the polymer coating of the particle can be designed in a variety of ways, and the particular way itself may significantly change the body's immune response.
"Drug delivery using nanoparticles containing water-soluble polymers has proven to be very effective. One of the ways to safely transfer drugs to infected sites in the body is to trap them in tiny polymeric particles the size of which is similar to the size of viruses. However, when these factors are injected into the body, they are neutralized by the body's immune defense system. This problem can be solved by coating the surface of these nanocarriers with water-soluble polymers. This fact makes the particles less active towards the immune system," says the lead researcher.
The focus of Professor Moghimi's research is nanotoxicology - the possibility of toxicity inherent in nanomaterials - and the possible consequences of drug delivery using nanoparticles. "Our new research suggests that we need to be extra careful when designing the surface of the nanoparticles."
The research showed how challenging it is to modify the surface of polymeric nanoparticles in such a way that they are hydrophilic enough to be compatible with biological fluids and still avoid a reaction with the body's immune system. These results are extremely important from a medical point of view since an antagonistic activity of the immune system may lead to negative reactions in some patients. The research findings were published in the scientific journal Nature Nanotechnology.
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